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Grey seals will start pupping soon

Friday 22nd September 2017

Grey seal pup. Lara Howe.

Grey seals will be starting to pup over the next few weeks.

Autumn is a great time of year for wildlife and not least because it's that time when Grey seals will start to pup around our coast. They are intelligent, charismatic mammals that spend most of their time at sea. Coming ashore to rest, moult (January to April) and to breed. This provides us with great opportunities to observe and study them.

The MWT is lucky enough to get that chance each year, with the annual Calf of Man seal surveys, which are starting again next week. The survey, which started in 2009, have seen year on year increases in pup numbers. Fingers crossed this is the case for this year.

MWT are also delighted to anounce that this year there will be some Island wide surveys taking place in October to monitor the numbers and distributions on a wider scale. Hopefully the weather will hold and we can get out on the boat.

Although it 's great to watch them, please note that the pups may look cute but can give you a nasty bite so keep your distance. Often mum is in the water waiting to come ashore to feed her pup so please don't disturb them. If a mother feels threatened in any way she can abandon her pup. These are protected species under the Wildlife Act 1990 so it is an offence to disturb them or injury them in any way. Please respect them.

Should you see any seals or pups whilst out and about please do report your sightings to us for our records. Email lara@manxwt.org.uk with how many you saw, where you saw them, the date you saw them and any other useful infromation. This will go to help us monitor our seals and protect them for the future.